The Lush Green Dial of the Krayon Anywhere Aurora

Aptly described as a watch design engineer, Remi Maillat is capable of incorporating extraordinarily complex mathematical calculations into the diminutive stage of a mechanical wristwatch. Following his award-winning Everywhere watch of 2017 that can calculate sunrise and sunset times anywhere in the world, Maillat came out with the Anywhere in 2020. Still a hyper-complication like the Everywhere, the Anywhere is simpler in appearance, easier to use and more ergonomic. With its lush green colour scheme, the latest Anywhere Aurora is a breath of fresh air and the first titanium watch by Krayon.

Although there are a handful of watches that indicate sunrise and sunset times calibrated to a specific location, Maillat’s Everywhere was the first mechanical watch to offer universal sunrise and sunset indications thanks to a hyper-sophisticated movement capable of computing the date, latitude, longitude and UTC. The Krayon Anywhere model of 2020, a natural evolution of the hyper-complex and hyper-expensive Everywhere, offers sunrise and sunset times for any location, providing the date, latitude, longitude and time zone are pre-set by a watchmaker. Just four years after Maillat’s Everywhere took home the Innovation prize at the GPHG 2018, the Anywhere model secured the Calendar and Astronomy Prize in 2022.

Until the unveiling of Krayon’s Anywhere watch in titanium for Only Watch 2023, the Anywhere has appeared in heavy platinum, gold and steel cases. Like the Anywhere x Only Watch, the latest model is housed in a 39mm diameter grade 5 titanium case with a thickness of 9.5mm, a remarkably compact case given the complexity of the movement. Thanks to titanium’s lightweight properties, the case of the Anywhere Aurora weighs just 50 grams. As a metal that is resistant to corrosion and scratches, the case is also more robust, and its low magnetism ensures the movement’s precision is not compromised. However, working with titanium has its challenges. One, for example, was soldering the elegant tiered lugs directly onto the case, a rarity in watchmaking. Another challenge was hand-polishing the case to achieve a smooth, radiant surface.

Using the ALD (atomic layer deposition) process, which deposits ultra-thin films one atomic layer at a time interspersed with light-reacting copper oxide, the dial glows with a gorgeous green hue. This central area of the dial is decorated with a series of longitude and latitude lines to evoke the globe. Respecting the layout of earlier Anywheres, the hours and minutes are indicated centrally with a sub-dial at 6 o’clock tracking date and month indications, essential for sunrise and sunset calculations. Like a simple calendar, the pointer-type counter with date and month indications needs five simple adjustments a year, which can be executed via the crown.

The central dial is surrounded by a ring with an orbiting Sun indicating the time over 24 hours; the day sector of the ring is white mother-of-pearl, while the night sector is picked out in a darker shade of green with twinkling stars. Continuously changing, the times of sunset and sunrise are indicated on the raised light green flange on the periphery. Although a watchmaker should be entrusted with establishing your coordinates, these can always be adapted to a new location with a simple adjustment.

Powered by Maillat’s complex in-house calibre C030, this manual-winding movement has 432 components, is just 5mm thick and delivers a power reserve of 72 hours. Beautifully decorated with manual bevelling and undulating waves on the bridges, the screws for the watchmaker to personalise the latitude and longitude bearings are clearly visible.

The Anywhere Aurora is presented with a lush green grained calfskin strap with a pin buckle and is delivered with a complimentary salmon skin strap. This gorgeous iteration of the Anywhere is a limited edition of 25 pieces and retails for CHF 142,000.

For more information, please consult krayon.ch.